Betrayal and Recovery
by The Primordials' Champion
Summary: Book 1 of Champions of the Primordials (CotP). What if Percy is trashed by Camp Half-Blood, and Thalia is left by all of her friends because of a single Huntress. When they meet up at Camp Half-Blood, leave, and vow never to fight for Olympus again, is the aftermath good or bad?
1. The Bitter Sting of Tears - Percy

Endless days and countless nights had passed by since everything changed. Since everything went downhill, and my life was ripped apart piece by painful piece. The cruelty of the Fates had almost overwhelmed me, but they could not keep me away from the one person who didn't leave me.

It had seemed that everyone _did_ see me as a tool. It was true that I had been used as an expendable toy to satisfy the gods and protect their reign, and now I realized that the Titans might have made better rulers. I realized that if I had accepted the Titans' offer, everything might have turned out different. However, what's done is done, and I can't change that.

First it was Clarisse, who blamed me for breaking her second spear. She was closely followed by Chris, Will, and the Stolls. After their false accusations of me ruining pranks and insulting them, the Camp started to pick up. Eventually, the only person I had left was Annabeth.

Yet in time, even my best friend would come to leave me. To discard me like a toy that a little kid outgrew. I didn't even have the good fortune to be recycled, but I had to be thrown into the trash. On that cursed night, my final link to the life I once had was destroyed, cut like the Fates cutting strings, or so I thought.

I jogged to the beach, hoping Annabeth would show up as I had hoped, because I couldn't lose her after everyone else who forgot me. When I got there, however, my heart shattered into a billion tiny fragments. Tears started to well up in my eyes, and my anger and rage built up as well.

The water started lapping faster, as if it sensed the tension, and was building up for the big show. Subconsciously, my mind made it drift backward, and I didn't care. Nothing really mattered to me anymore.

"Why?" I said, my voice choking up. "Why would you do this to me, Annabeth? After all we've been through, why would you betray me like everyone else?"

Annabeth whirled around after hearing my voice, as did Connor Stoll, who was the boy she was making out with. "Percy…"

"After everything that's happened to us, I can't believe you'd do this. Wait, I can."

"What?" Annabeth asked, confusion taking over her tone of voice.

"You were always defending Luke, I bet that if I wasn't there, you would've joined him. I must've been keeping you on the gods' side just because I was popular and famous because I was a son of Poseidon and had bested Ares. Then, you found Connor. He looks a lot like Luke. I must've just replaced Luke temporarily, and then you would have the time to find someone else. So all this time you've basically been cheating on me." The tears were flowing freely down my face, and the water was receding faster and faster.

"No, Percy. You don't understand." She said, but I could see through her lies. When she was upset, she lied worse than Grover.

"I do understand. I understand everything perfectly. I understand your perfect scheme, but I don't understand how you can be heartless enough to do this. You could've at least come to me honestly."

"I didn't want you to find out like this," Annabeth said, tears starting to stream down her face.

"I bet you didn't want me to find out at all. Huh?" I said, my voice growing colder with each word that flooded out of my mouth.

"Stop it, Per…" Connor said before I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"Stay out of this, Stoll. It doesn't concern you." I said, before flinging him away.

"Percy, can you stop doing this?" Annabeth pleaded.

"I'll stop when you tell me why you did this to me. You were the only person I had left, and now you left me, too. Do you expect me to let it slide? I thought you loved me!" I practically screamed. The tsunami started rolling in, but Annabeth took no notice.

I willed the incoming tsunami wave to speed up, and it bent to my will. It came crashing upon the camp, and I made little earthquakes with every single step as I sprinted off into the wood. I felt horrible as the tears rolled down my cheeks, showing no sign of stopping as I pounded my fists against the tree in front of me. My fists were starting to get bleed, but I didn't care.

I continuously took out all of my pain, anger, and sadness on that tree, and my fists. My whole body shook with all my emotions, ranging from one negative emotion to another, and I couldn't think of anything positive to fill my thoughts. I couldn't help but think of everything that happened to me as my mind wandered back to my old life, or the better time of my life. The three months between the great prophecies, to be specific. I spent time with Annabeth and all of my friends, and it was the best time I'd ever had. But thinking of Annabeth sent a fresh round of tears down my face.

I started to hear the campers running around and screaming, worried out of their minds, but I didn't care as the tears leaked from my eyes and onto the grassy floor of the Earth. My mouth finally seemed to work as I let out a scream of pain and anxiety, followed by a stream of almost never-ending sobs.

Somehow, I felt I had known that my life would turn for the worst, but I never expected it to be this horrible. Finally, my mind settled on one emotion: loneliness. I felt like killing myself; I felt like finding my own self-destruct button and pressing it.

Before I could bring myself to do it, though, my mind suddenly remembered one person: Thalia Grace. Maybe, just maybe, I could pull myself through the bitter sting of tears long enough to see her once more before I said good-bye to the world.


	2. Empty Words - Thalia

Just when I thought I finally had a family, it all had to be ripped away from me. All of my friends, spread apart from me by one simple, power-hungry huntress. I don't even know how she became a huntress, but she is one, and she seems intent on making my life roll down the highest mountain it has ever stood atop.

Hayley, that bitch. She completely ruined my life. If I had a chance, I would've killed her before she could've joined. It started with Chloe. Hayley lied to her, telling her that I said 'I wouldn't trust her with a bow if my life depended on it.' I couldn't believe Chloe actually trusted her. Then came Atalanta. Hayley snapped her bow and blamed it on me.

After that, the train kept going, speeding faster and faster until it was rolling so fast I couldn't keep track of everything that was flying by. I couldn't keep track of all the friendships I'd lost because of her. Day after day flew by, and every day at least two people came up to me saying, "I hate you!" or "Get out of my life!" When I had only Phoebe's respect, it started to get too much.

I cried myself through the nights that grew so long that it seemed every second was an hour. My sadness came in during the day as well, so I would end up wandering into the woods, punching anything in sight until my fists bled, and continue ventilating my anger by electrocuting anything else. I would come back saddened, but no one noticed the pain I was going through. No one noticed the dark rings that started to form around my eyes, and no one noticed how I was beginning to shed my tough exterior in public.

I thought about how the Fates controlled this, and wondered why they were doing this to me. I just couldn't understand. That night, I laid awake for an unknown amount of time, trying to fall asleep, but the tears that usually lulled me into oblivion wouldn't leak from my eyes. When I finally fell asleep, the dream that greeted me was not one that I expected, but it was welcomed.

_I was walking into battle alongside a hooded figure, but my enemies were the campers from Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. However, before the battle started the mysterious figure I was fighting with removed his hood, which in turn, took off his skeleton mask. Shocked, I realized it was Percy._

_My astonishment grew even more when Percy grabbed me into his arms and kissed me and I kissed back. With that thought, I realized that I would be kicked out of the Hunters of Artemis, but that it might be worth it if I was with Percy._

_But then, my attention turned back to my enemy. The camps had obviously combined, as their were some Roman aspects to everything about Camp Half-Blood. Some of the celestial bronze swords had been infused with imperial gold. I saw the Hunters of Artemis in the back, arrows notched and pointed at me and Percy._

_Next, I looked at my allies. I saw numerous monsters that Percy and I had fought over the years, and in the front line, Percy and I stood, flanked by beings that emanated power. Somehow, I knew they were the primordial gods: Aether, Hemera, Nyx, Erebus, Tartarus, Gaea, Ouranos, Ananke, Chronos, Ourea, Pontus, and Thalassa._

_Looking at the Primordials made me feel the urge to glance at my wrist. On my wrist, there was a string of symbols, all on a line that crept up my forearm. There was a symbol for each Primordial on that string, making it look like an unclasped necklace._

_I heard the sound of the conch horn blowing five times, signaling the beginning of war. Percy and I let out a battle cry, and our army charged Camp Half-Blood. The Hunters of Artemis rained down volley after volley of arrows, and whichever ones hit Percy and I just bounced off, which I mysteriously knew was the affect of a special type of immortality; the type of immortality gained when you bathe in the River Styx, but don't focus on keeping mortality._

_When I met swords with one of the enemies, I awoke from my time in the realm of Morpheus._

I jumped out of the bed, expecting the enemy I was fighting to be there, waiting with his sword poised above my head, ready to decapitate me with one fatal blow. I whipped out my dagger, and fast as lightning, slashed at thin air. _Whew, it wasn't real_, I thought to myself.

Little did I know how wrong I was. And it would all start to come true that morning. After hunting for breakfast, and eating the squirrel I had killed and roasted, I saw Artemis coming over to me.

"Do you need something from me, milady?" I asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I would like to speak with you for a minute inside my tent." She said, her voice colder than I was used to.

As soon as we entered the tent, she turned to me, fuming. "How could you disrespect the Hunters' vow?" she shouted.

"Milady, I don't know what you mean." I said.

"You know perfectly well what I mean. Why on Earth did you see a man? I know you are fully aware of the conditions of your vow!" Artemis said, her voice practically a shriek. "You are no longer a member of the Hunters of Artemis. I am extremely disappointed in you, Thalia Marie Grace."

A cold yellow light started to form around me, but I was so confused that I almost didn't register it. When the blinding light faded, I was back in Camp Half-Blood, and I immediately went to see one person. That one person was Percy Jackson. I had a feeling that I would need to know his situation too, because something didn't feel right. I also needed to tell him my situation, and how almost everything I thought would happen was now empty words.


	3. Catching Up - Thalia

I wandered toward the beach, which for some reason was damp, along with every other part of Camp Half-Blood. I heard sobbing sounds that sounded like they were from _Percy_. I ran to the woods as fast as I could, and using my experience with the Hunters, I tracked the sound to a small clearing. Sure enough, my ears hadn't fooled me as Percy stood before my eyes, his face stained with the paths of the tears that had obviously fell down his face recently.

"Percy? What's going on?" I asked him gently.

"Thalia?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"Yeah, Perce. It's me."

"You don't look much better than I do," he said, scrutinizing me.

"What happened to you? You don't look like yourself." I inquired.

"It's a long story, but I'll tell you. Only if you tell me why you don't look so good, though." He said, and I saw the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Okay, deal." I replied sadly.

"I guess I'll start from the beginning. So, after defeating Gaea, everything got worse. Everything went downhill. It all started when Clarisse got on me for breaking her spear, which I didn't do. A couple more people followed her lead, and then the whole Camp started blaming me for everything. The only person I had left was Annabeth, and eventually, she left me as well."

"What do you mean?" I growled, furious at my best friend for betraying who Artemis believed to be the only good man on the face of the planet.

"I was going to the beach for a date with Annabeth. When I got there, I saw her. But she wasn't alone. She was cheating on me with Connor Stoll. They were making out like their lives depended on it. Then, she tried to get me to forgive her."

"I can't believe she would have the nerve to do that. I would think that with her being a daughter of Athena, she would be wise enough not to do that." I said, my anger rising.

"Thals, calm down. So, as I was saying, Connor tried to get in when I was mad at Annabeth, and I basically tossed him halfway across the beach. Then, a tsunami I had been brewing up hit Camp, and I sprinted off into the woods, creating earthquakes to strengthen it. And here I am."

I was surprised, yet angry by the end of Percy's story. Sparks started flying around me.

"What about you?" Percy asked.

"It was the same sort of thing that happened to you, only with a different cause." I responded.

"So, this girl named Hayley joined the Hunters of Artemis. As soon as she heard about me and who my father was, she hated me. She started to turn every single member of the Hunters against me except Phoebe. I felt more and more miserable every single day," I continued as I felt the tears start to slowly fall.

"Hey, Thals. It'll be fine." He whispered to me.

"Anyway," I said, sniffling. "eventually, she turned Artemis against me. She made Artemis believe that I had broken my maiden vow. Artemis cast me out of the Hunters and took away my immortality."

It was Percy's turn to look angry, and he started to growl. A sneer crossed his face before I told him to calm down.

"I can't do this, Thals. I can't stay here," he told me, after he calmed down. "I need to leave. Otherwise I won't be able to live any sort of life at all."

"I get what you mean, Perce." I said. "We should leave soon."

"Yeah. I'm ready."

I nodded my head in agreement. We trekked through Camp Half-Blood, ignoring all the drenched campers who glared at us with hatred in their eyes. We walked onwards and when we reached the border, Percy whispered words to the wind that carried into Camp.

"Remember this as the day that two of the greatest heroes of all time left. Some day, you will wish you had not trashed us, as we will be fighting against you. I swear on the River Styx that I will uphold this vow. Will you, Thalia?"

"Yes, I will." I said with my heart set in stone.

With those final words, we walked through the border of Camp Half-Blood, leaving everything we'd known for the past few years behind. The smallest of smiles crossed my face as I thought about leaving the people who had betrayed me. I saw that Percy was thinking the same thing.

"We should leave the country, you know? Monsters won't attack us. Let's head north up to Canada. Maybe I can build us a house in one of the great lakes." Percy said.

"You won't need to do that," said a voice from behind me. I whirled around to see a being that I never wanted to see again. I saw Gaea, Primordial goddess of the Earth.

"Don't fear me, please. The Primordials know your pain. We would like you to join us in waging a war against Olympus. We would like Olympus to fall, and we heard your oath on the River Styx. This would probably be a dream come true for you."

I slowly looked at Percy and we both exchanged looks and nodded. "We're ready." I said for both of us. Gaea nodded and we all teleported to an odd location.

We ended up face to face with Tartarus, primordial of the pit. "First off, we need you bathe in the River Styx with our blessing. With our blessing, you won't need to have a weak spot and you won't need to sleep as much. Second, you will need much training." Tartarus said, getting right to the point. Percy and I nodded to show we were happy with the arrangement.

"If you would follow me, we will get started by blessing you. You will get new powers from all of us. You can also choose the couple you wish to be adopted by." Percy and I started following Tartarus down a long winding corridor, and we stopped when we reached what must have been the Primordial throne room.

**During the first two chapters, I realized I forgot the disclaimer, so here it is: I own nothing of Percy Jackson! I also feel like the leaving part was a little rushed, sorry about that, but it was one part of the story I couldn't have stretched out anymore. I'm not even gonna ask for reviews, but constructive criticism will be taken to heart.**


	4. True Family - Percy

The throne room stood before me in all its glorious magnificence. The thrones were so intricate that they made the gods' look like they were sculpted by an amateur. I noticed that there were two empty thrones at the head of the room, and curiosity got the better of me. "Lord Tartarus, what are those thrones for?" I gestured toward where the unoccupied thrones stood.

"They are for the two most powerful beings in the universe. That is who you two will become. You will out-power all of the Primordials when you are done training."

I stood looking at the thrones in awe. Thinking that that was where I would sit in the near future made me excited, but at the same time nervous.

Thalia intertwined her hand in mine, and I didn't resist.

"The first step in this long process is to give you two new names. What do you choose?" Nyx asked.

"I choose _Nekros_." I stated firmly. Nyx nodded in approval.

Thalia seemed to ponder the question for a little bit before calmly saying, "I choose _Stoicheion_."

"Very well," Tartarus said. "Now you must choose your adopted parents."

I went first saying "Would you, Tartarus, and you Gaea, adopt me?"

"Yes, we will." They both said. Knowing the story of how Gaea married Tartarus after Ouranos was sliced up was quite handy seeing as they seemed to be the two Primordials I shared the most traits with.

Thalia stepped up, and replied to Tartarus' question with a simple, "I choose Nyx and Erebus."

Our new adopted parents walked over to us and hugged us. Their presence gave me reassurance that somehow, someway, everything would turn for the better.

"Next, we must bless you," Pontus said.

"However, only one of you may get a blessing from me," Tartarus began.

Thalia and I looked at each other, and she nodded at me, signaling for me to take it. I was hesitant at first, but a desire not to start another fight with her urged me to accept Tartarus's offer. I nodded to Tartarus to signal that I was the decided recipient of his gift. "Very well, I will bless you, Nekros."

"Εγώ, Τάρταρο, Αρχέγονα Θεός του λάκκος, επιχορήγηση ευλογία μου." Tartarus chanted in ancient Greek.

A tingling sensation engulfed my body, and I couldn't feel anything other than pure water in my blood vessels.

"Nekros, your new power includes control over all monsters. They shall worship you as a god. Your blood is now a mix of all five of the Underworld's rivers and you can use powers of any of them at will by opening a blood vessel in your wrist and spraying the water of your choice." Tartarus explained.

"Thank you, my lord." I said, bowing. I was still in awe of my new powers.

"Εμείς, οι πρωταρχικές θεότητες έδιναν τις ευχές μας." The other deities said their incantation.

After the spell, I felt the power flowing through me. I felt like nothing could hold me back; like I could destroy everyone I hated with energy left to defeat all of the titans. Thalia obviously felt the same way, seeing as her face contorted into a crazy look of joy that I was pretty sure my expression mirrored.

Thalia and I peeked at our arms, and saw a string of symbols that ran down our forearm, sort of like tattoos. There was a symbol for each Primordial encased by a black circle.

Before we could examine them farther, Ananke stepped forward and said, "My blessing will increase your ability to size up situations. I am the Primordial of inevitability, meaning that you will be able to see the outcomes of certain scenarios. You will also be able to interpret certain actions and what they lead to. Basically, you will become better at reading living things."

"Thank you, milady," Thalia and I said.

It was Pontus's turn to step forward. "With my blessing, you will have much farther advanced water control than any of Poseidon's children. You will be able to vapor travel, create whirlpools, and even condense and evaporate water at will. Nekros will have a little more control than Thalia, seeing as he is a natural-born son of Poseidon."

I growled at the mention of my father's name, and the Primordials sensed my discomfort.

"Sorry, Nekros" Pontus said. I nodded to show his apology was accepted.

Thalassa stated her blessings effects. "Fish will now do your bidding, due to the fact that I am their creator. Your water powers will become stronger than ever and you will be able to bend large amounts of water to will without breaking a sweat—as the mortals say it."

"Thank you," I said, and Thalia nodded her head in agreement.

Chronos stated our new abilities from him. "You will now be able to manipulate time. If you ever face Kronos again, you will be able to slow down time around him to the point where he freezes and will be able to do nothing about it. You will be able to speed up time to the point that a minute passes in a second to you."

"You can manipulate plants to your will at this point. You will also be able to cause destruction by sending shockwaves through the earth. You will be able to control the growth of plants and do the same thing as Demeter's children: ensnaring people in plants or trapping the world around you. You will control stone because of Ourea's blessing. Speaking of Ourea, I think he's up next" Gaea said.

"Thank you, all of you." I said.

"Don't worry," Tartarus said, and the other deities nodded.

Ourea stepped up, and began speaking of his gift. "As Gaea said, you will be able to control stone. You can make mountains rise and fall at will, and make rock rise from the ground. You will be able to bend rocks into any form, including weapons or practical tools."

It was Hemera's turn to step forth. "You will now be able to use light to your will. During the day, you can make it so bright that your enemy is blinded. However, you will be able to see very well. In the early morning, you will also be able to see amazingly well, because I will be dispersing the mists of darkness that Nyx draws across the sky."

"Thank you, Lady Hemera." Thalia said

After her, Aether came forward, "Nekros and Stoicheion, my blessing grants you the ability to manipulate the air around you to the point where you can bind any enemy in an invisible cage of air. You will also be able to compress the air to the point where you allow no air whatsoever to get into your newly created vacuum."

Thalia and I nodded to show our thanks.

Nyx walked slowly toward us and stopped a few feet away from the place where Thalia and I were kneeling. She bended down to reassuringly touch Thalia's shoulders, and I felt really happy for her.

"I am essentially the opposite of Hemera, so my blessing will be the darker version of hers. During the night, you can make it darker than anyone human, god, or demigod other than you two can see in. At dusk, your daytime vision will start improving for the night and I will be drawing the mists of darkness across the land."

Erebus came up next, and said, "My blessing will only strengthen the effects of Nyx's. Instead of having plain powers, you will have full mastery over the darkness. You will be able to see just as well in night as in day and you can make it so dark that everyone else will not even be able to see silhouettes. Not even the best-seeing animals will be able to see through your layer of darkness."

Finally, Ouranos paced forward steadily as Nyx retreated back into her throne. "My blessing will farther your awareness. You will be able to sense a being's presence in the air because you will be connected to me. You will feel the beings in the sky and those closest to you will set off an internal defense mechanism: your senses will heighten and you will be able to wield weapons at speeds to the point that very few beings will be able to see your blade or blades, depending on what you choose for your symbols of power."

"Symbols of power?" I asked, surprised. I could see Thalia was pretty astonished as well.

"Yes, symbols of power. Like the those of the gods, only many times stronger." Tartarus answered.

At this, my eyes widened, as did Thalia's. I was already brainstorming possibilities when Tartarus continued. "You will also be able to use Primordial Obsidian in your weapons, which is the most powerful known metal in the universe."

Thalia looked at me and her eyes said, _Wicked!_ I couldn't help agreeing with her.

"I see you are very excited about this, so we will create your weapons of choice while you bathe in the River Styx. However, we must know which weapons you choose for your symbols." Tartarus said.

Images of many different versions of Riptide flew through my mind. For some reason, I still loved Riptide. Maybe it was because Riptide didn't betray me like everyone else. The possibilities of Riptide's new features flitted through my mind, but I was still trying to settle on what metals I wanted to use. My mind finally settled on a new blade made of Primordial Obsidian, Stygian Iron, and Imperial Gold mixed into one. I decided that I could add some dagger-like things sprouting out of the blade near the hand guard made of Celestial Bronze.

The Primordials obviously sensed my excitement as I thought of the new and improved Riptide that almost no one would recognize.

"So, Nekros, I think you've decided on a weapon." It wasn't a question, but a statement coming from Tartarus' mouth.

"Yes, milord, Tartarus." I responded.

"Please stop with the formalities, Nekros. In a while, I think we will be calling you our lord." He said.

"Please don't" I said, making everyone laugh. I even chuckled a bit, but after what happened to me, I couldn't bring myself to let out my old, carefree laugh.

"Can you modify Riptide based on my description?" I questioned.

"Of course we can," Tartarus said.

"Well, then. Could you replace Riptide's blade with a longer piece of metal made of Primordial Obsidian, Stygian Iron, and Imperial Gold? Also, could you add Celestial Bronze daggers sticking out from the portion of the blade near the hand guard?" I asked.

"Don't worry, it should be done after you bathe. I guess you want your enemies to die painfully?" I nodded, as a somewhat maniacal grin crossed my face. It visibly sent shivers up everyone's spine. It was a good thing that I didn't respond, or my voice would've made me seem like a psycho.

"What about you, Thals?" I asked.

"Could you remake my spear point out of Primordial Obsidian and make stronger electricity come from it?"

"As with Percy's, your symbol will be done by the time you have finished bathing in the Styx. Now, you two must go, but you need to remember not to focus on having an Achilles' heel. The heel is the reason that you need the extra sleep. It is the link that keeps you mortal, and your body fights between mortality and immortality. That inner conflict tires you out, but when you bathe without it, which you two can because you have been blessed by us, you will not need to resolve this conflict."

"Thank you. We will be sure to keep this in mind." Thalia said.

"Before you go, could I see you for a second, Nekros?" Tartarus whispered to me.

"Go on ahead, Thalia. I'll be right there." She left so Tartarus could speak to me in private.

"Listen, Nekros. Stoicheion might not feel as comfortable as you in my domain, so you might need to help her out." Tartarus spoke softly so Thalia wouldn't overhear him.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure she's okay."

"Good." Tartarus said. "Now go on ahead."

I left the room, but I was conscious of Tartarus' concerned gaze boring into the back of my head.

**Hey guys, I just wanted to thank you for all of your support. Special thanks to Whatsup1006 and BrendaLovesBook for your extremely encouraging reviews. Sorry for this chapter, because I know it was boring, but I need it to fill in the rest of the story. Also, I'll be using the codenames more often than other Chaos/Primordial stories. By the way, I have found a way for Percy to have conflict within this series. Finally, it'll take me longer to update on weekdays because since it's holiday season, I've got to prepare for my concerts and finish up school, so my chapters will take a little bit longer. I'll aim for two to four chapters a week. Bear with me if I miss that goal, please. As usual: I own nothing of Percy Jackson.**

**The Primordials' Champion**


	5. All Powered Up - Percy

After Tartarus finished his talk with me, I exited the room to catch up to Thalia. It didn't take long, considering I was using my heightened abilities from Ouranos to follow her into Tartarus. And I don't mean the Primordial, I mean the place. I was surprised that I could start to grasp my powers this early, and I realized that training would make it even easier.

I found her shivering at the entrance of Tartarus. I put a comforting arm around her and whispered, "Hey, it'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say. Tartarus is your adopted father and you were blessed by him."

"Did you forget I've been here before? It _will_ be okay, because we're here with each other," I said.

My words reassured her for a brief period of time. Her muscles relaxed and a small smile graced her lips before the panic of fear wiped it away.

"Come on, Thals. I know where the Styx is," I said.

She nodded her head and fell into stride beside me. It took us a while to reach the River Styx. When we did reach it, we were both a little nervous. I wasn't sure if I was permitted a second bath in the river, but I was going to try, and if it didn't work, I would just have a few words with Lady Styx.

"I'll go first," I said.

Thalia started to tremble again when she nodded in agreement.

"I'm not sure how long this will take. I could be anywhere from five minutes to two hours," I told her.

I could tell from her expression that my words scared her, so I squeezed her shoulder before I jumped into the River Styx.

The first thing that hit me was the pain. I nearly screamed from the sheer force of it. When I was able to open my eyes and stop gritting my teeth, I saw the Lady Styx standing a few yards away from me. "What are you doing here again, Perseus Jackson?" she asked.

"Securing my place as an enemy of the Olympians," I said, and she flinched at the coldness in my voice.

"I am not sure I should let you back here," she said, recovering from her shock and totally changing the topic.

"I don't care about what you think. If you won't let me come, I promise that my adopted parents will have a few—how should I put this?—words with you."

She didn't like that; I could tell by the way she pressed her lips into a thin line. "I still do not believe that you should be here," she reminded me.

"I already told you I don't care! I am taking my place as an enemy against the people who betrayed me! They're going to regret that day." I kept my voice quiet, despite my anger. A little trick I had learned: Sometimes, keeping calm is better than shouting.

Lady Styx relented, but her face showed that she wished she hadn't. She receded into the murky depths of the river. I continued to grit my teeth as the pain came back. I almost screamed, but my previous experience in these waters helped me bear the pain.

I stayed in for ten minutes and saw no vision of anyone anchoring myself to mortality. The rivers in my veins started to flow faster and faster. I felt the effects of immortality in my blood, but there was no ichor. The water from the Underworld's rivers still flooded through my blood vessels.

After my ten minutes in the river were up, I stepped out. Thalia was relieved when I emerged and walked up the bank. She looked at the river warily, before jumping in herself.

I heard her screams of agony pierce the air like knives. I cringed for her, knowing the pain she was going through. After what seemed like forever, her screams finally stopped, and soon after she stepped out of the Styx.

When she jumped out, she was shivering from shock and cold. I walked to her, and put my arms around her. At this moment, I was surprised when a strange sense of peace overcame me.

"Let's go see our symbols of power, huh?" I asked Thalia.

She pulled away and slowly nodded and smiled. She was obviously still cold from the way she was shivering, but the idea of seeing our symbols of power excited her. "Yeah, let's," she said.

We hiked through Tartarus and found the opening to the Primordials' kingdom. We walked through to see all of the gods smiling at us except Tartarus; I couldn't see him anywhere in the throne room, period. As if reading my thoughts, Gaea said, "Tartarus will be along shortly. He is currently retrieving your weapons of power from the Telekhines."

As if on cue, Tartarus entered the room, hoisting two weapons in his hands. He sat on his grand throne, and beckoned Thalia to come forward. She obliged, and knelt down in front of him.

"May I present to you, Stoicheion, your new weapon, The Dark Queen. A spear with a handle of Imperial Gold, a fantastic conductor of electricity, and a point of Primordial Obsidian. It can release enough volts of electricity to kill a human easily, and it can create much more than that at your will," Tartarus explained.

Tartarus held the spear out. Thalia grasped it, and said, "Thank you, Tartarus."

She backed up, and I stepped forward and knelt in front of Tartarus. I entered the kneeling position in front of Tartarus.

"Nekros, your new version of Riptide is ready. There are celestial bronze daggers protruding from your hand guard, just as you asked. The blade was remade from Primordial Obsidian, Stygian Iron, and Imperial Gold."

He presented it to me, and as soon as I held it, I knew it was the best weapon ever created. It fit perfectly into my hand, and if anything felt like an extension of my arm, that was definitely it.

"Thank you," I said to the gods and goddesses around me. I knew that now, I was ready for the fight of my life.

**Hey guys, I knew it took a long time for me to update, and I'm really sorry about that, but I've been extremely busy and haven't found much time to write. I'll try to get the next chapter up by Sunday, but I can't make any promises. I'm gonna aim to make 2-4k words for the chapter to make up for it.**


	6. The Start of Training - Thalia

After our bath in the River Styx and receiving with our new weapons of power, Percy and I had to spar against our adopted parents. I was excited to use my new spear against Erebus. As if he sensed my thoughts, he put a hand on my shoulder and teleported us away, while Tartarus did the same to Percy.

We arrived at an arena that was literally made of darkness. I grinned in glee, and my dad smiled approvingly at me. "Are you ready for our first duel?" he asked.

"Heck, yeah," I said, adrenaline bubbling up inside me.

He looked at me, smirked, and conjured a sword with a Primordial Obsidian blade surrounded by swirling darkness compacted to make a solid coating over the blade. I grasped The Dark Queen firmly and felt its power flow through me. It made me feel both complete and free, and I savored the moment as I slipped into my ready stance. Erebus did the same, and our spar began. I saw Nyx flash herself into the bleachers, and in my moment of distraction, Erebus struck.

He slashed at me, and as I looked at him, I barely had enough to time to pivot my spear to block his strike. It was nice having an Imperial Gold handle, because you could block strikes with it. He sent an overhead swipe at me, and I parried it with the edge of my spear.

I lowered my spear until it pointed in a straight line at Erebus, who was still slightly dazed from the force of my parry, and pushed it straight at my dad's chest. He turned so the spear flew harmlessly in front of him.

He took advantage of my moment of surprise and batted my spear away from him with the back of his hand. He lunged at me and swept his sword at my legs. I jumped and landed on top of his sword. I had spread myself out midair to cover his sword like a blanket when I came down. I felt Erebus fall with me as his sword was pulled down.

I was still a little stunned that my body took no damage whatsoever, but I kept myself alert. I was not going to fall into another trap. I jumped back up on my feet and went on the offensive, diagonally slashing at him. He ducked and tried to kick me, but it hurt him more than me. I aimed another slash to come from the bottom up, but he expected it and sidestepped, so I pretended I was faking and slashed at the right. Another unexpected dodge allowed him to get the best of me and he sliced at me. The blade rebounded off my chest, but I still flew back into a wall. He advanced warily, as if expecting me to attack. I pretended to go limp, and saw Erebus relax and run toward me for the finishing blow. I took my chance and rolled to the side. I jumped up and backwards at the same time, and grabbed Erebus in a headlock.

I released him, spinning him as I did, and when he stopped, he was in such a daze that I could just walk up to him, point my spear at his neck, and say, "Game over."

It was at that point that my mother jumped in. She whipped out a hunting knife and hacked at me in a blinding flurry of attacks. I kept my distance from her short range weapons, but her grace made the hunters look like they were drunk. Her blades cut through thin air as I somehow evaded each and every one of her strikes.

She brought both knives together and sliced at me for a combination hit. I turned my spear so the point was facing upward and blocked her strike with the Imperial Gold hilt of The Dark Queen. I turned the spear over and stuck the tip into the ground. I vaulted over it and tried to level my spear to Nyx's neck.

Suddenly, her back slanted down. I knew she was a champion at limbo because her back bent straight parallel with the ground at knee level. She put her hands on the ground and pushed. She started a flip and her legs parted around my spear. They found their mark and hit my shoulders, dislocating my left one.

I didn't scream in pain, but I was sort of befuddled as to why Nyx injured me. I wasn't about to get distracted though, as Nyx was even faster than Erebus. I let my left arm hang limp by my side as the fight continued.

I spun my spear in an intricate series of unpredictable slices, swipes and stabs. Nyx evaded every attempted hit, and occasionally she was able to find a flaw in my motion and block my attacks, jarring me and preventing me from continuing my stream of attempted hits.

Finally, I attempted a stab near Nyx's chest. She dove under it and tackled me, football style. I flew down toward the ground and Nyx's dive carried her straight under me as she let go. She jumped up and pinned me to the ground with her foot and held her hunting knife to my neck.

"I win," she said to me.

I smiled and stood up when she took her foot off of my spine. "Good game," I said.

I heard Erebus applauding from the stands, and Nyx and I both waved at him.

"Now, it's time to teach you your powers over darkness," Erebus told me.

I grinned happily. "Let's do it."

"Now, to start, just concentrate. This is how you should be able to harness your abilities. You should know from your lightning powers," Nyx said.

I grimaced. Lightning reminded me of my father and the Olympians, and I hated them. I understood why Luke hosted Kronos, and now I supported him.

Nyx put her hand on my good shoulder to comfort me. A small smile slipped onto my face before I replaced it with an expression of determination.

I concentrated on manipulating the arena, and the arena shifted from a circle into an oval. I tried again, and made the arena into a square. Erebus and Nyx smiled and patted me on the back in approval.

"Good job, Stoicheion," Erebus said.

"Thanks, dad," I said.

"Now, you will need to learn to summon darkness or make it thicker. Do you remember how Nekros could summon water from the ocean?" Nyx asked.

"Yeah, I do," I responded, thinking back to one of our fights after he lost us a game of capture the flag.

"The same goes for summoning darkness. You will just need to concentrate."

I did, and I felt a tug in my gut like when I summoned lightning. I made a solid bit of air materialize and it quickly darkened until it was a shade like the night sky. I had it engulf Erebus, Nyx and myself.

Erebus and Nyx applauded again, and I figured their hands must be sore from the amount of clapping they had done. I knew it was for encouragement, though, and I loved it. I'd never had that kind of thing happen to me before.

"Your training is over for today but tomorrow you will have some hardcore darkness training to go through, plus magic training with other Primordials," Erebus said.

"Thanks, dad. And, do I have a room?" I asked him.

"Yeah, of course you do." He put his hand on my shoulder and flashed us back to the throne room.

"Your room is down this hall and to the right." He gestured toward a hallway between his and Nyx's thrones.

"Thanks again." I told him.

"No problem."

He flashed himself away, and I walked down the hallway. I arrived at my room and opened the door. What I saw made my mouth drop open.

**Hey guys! Chapter 6 is ready. 1500 words down. I know it's a little under my standards, but the chapters should start to get longer. I should have the next chapter up by mid next week.**


	7. Triumphs in Training - Percy

"Good, good, Nekros. You're getting the hang of it now," Gaea said.

We had been practicing my earth powers nonstop for half an hour. I had learned how to grow trees, use roots and vines to entangle my enemies, and make the earth shift. Now, I was practicing my ability to create an avatar of earth and dark energy, so Tartarus was helping me out too.

The tug in my gut pained me as I tried to form roots, vines, grass, leaves, and sticks into a ginormous humanoid thing. I had entangled roots and vines in a pattern that a weaver would use to create the bottom half of the avatar, and my enhanced abilities from Ouranos allowed me to jump onto it.

I felt myself rise as I extended the legs on my avatar to have it stand taller. I encased myself in grass and sticks, and left a windshield sized hole so I could see my enemy or enemies.

"Amazing, Nekros. I only have a couple of tips for your suit," Gaea said.

"Could, I hear them?" I asked. The avatar put a bit of a strain on my voice, but after years of using my water powers, I'd gotten use to it.

"First, put a crown on your head. You're one of the most powerful beings in the universe."

I smiled at Gaea's antics, and put a false crown on my head. When she chuckled, I let the crown disappear.

"Alright, add opposable thumbs, please."

I blushed when I realized I hadn't added thumbs to my avatar.

I made the changes, and Gaea spoke again.

"Now, I think that does it. Tartarus, will you help him with your powers?" Gaea asked.

Tartarus nodded. "There is only one thing that can be done with my powers."

"You can imbue your avatar with your energy. My energy will have on you: the ability to use the Underworld's water at will. Try adding those powers to it."

I concentrated and my gut felt like it was going to split in two. I summoned energy from inside me and saw a ball of dark energy come out of my chest. It grew in size as it flew through my hole for eyes. It settled outside and expanded to engulf my avatar in energy. I willed the energy to compact, and it became smaller until it merged with the trees, giving a blood red tint to the ordinarily brown and green plants.

I let the avatar crumble into the ground and looked eagerly at my parents. They knew I was excited to learn my new powers. Tartarus smiled at me and said, "Now, it's time to learn how to use dark energy. You can even make it solid and project a beam of energy. You can also forge it into a coating for Riptide. Would you like to try?"

"Sure."

"First, like anything else, concentrate. It is the number one rule of using powers."

I nodded and tried to make a ball of dark energy form in my hands. It did, and I willed it to grow bigger. Again, it complied, and for some reason, I decided to spray water from the five rivers into it. The Phlegethon, the Styx, the Lethe, the Acheron, and the Cocytus.

I could feel the energy grow and it rolled off of the sphere in extreme waves of power. It made me feel like nothing could stop me.

Tartarus beamed at me. "Good job," he said.

"Thanks," I replied as I let my energy ball disappear.

"Now, it's time to spar," Tartarus told me, grinning. Gaea smiled slyly at me.

He conjured up a Primordial Obsidian dual-bladed battle axe. It was four feet tall and fit for a king. The areas around each blade were embedded with precious gems such as rubies, diamonds, and other assorted ones. The Stygian Iron handle emitted a rust red glow.

I drew Riptide, the new metals glimmering in the dim light of Tartarus. Tartarus started the battle by slashing at my torso. I ducked and rolled under his legs. I tried to attack from behind, but he back flipped over me. I whirled around expecting an attack, but Tartarus was already on the defensive.

I was surprised, and that moment of irresponsiveness cost me dearly. He raised his axe and struck, a blow that would normally have killed me right on the spot, but it just rebounded off my solid skin.

Tartarus became slightly dazed and in that moment, I rushed him. His reflexes were sharp, though, and he parried my strike. I used the recoil to my advantage, as I had enough room to jump back and swipe my legs under Tartarus. He tripped, but rolled away from my slice.

He jumped onto his feet as I slashed where he used to be lying on his back. He sent a kick towards my chest, but I dodged it and hammered his leg down with the flat of my sword. Since Tartarus was off balance, I used all of my strength and swung at his axe with my sword.

The hit was solid, and the axe fell out of his hands. I pointed my sword at his throat and said, "I win."

Suddenly, the earth under me started sinking, trapping me. Gaea front flipped off of the bleachers and conjured a wooden quarterstaff, like the one Robin Hood when he fought Little John. She performed a series of twirls and then leveled her staff at me. I made the first move, slicing diagonally at her after I climbed up out of the whole. She parried my strike and used the opposite end of her spear to take a shot at me. Once again, a weapon bounced off of my skin.

I launched into a complicated pattern of blows, each one parried, each one unable to find its mark. Until one blow finally got under Gaea's defense.

It started when I feinted upward. She fell for it and attempted to block. I circled my sword around and slashed where her staff was, sending it to the side. Afterward, I stabbed at her exposed neck, and stopped just before the blow reached. "I win, again."

Gaea and Tartarus both applauded. "Good job, Nekros. You displayed extraordinary close combat skills, _but_, we still have to work on archery," Tartarus said.

"Dang it," I said, making both of my parents laugh.

"Alright," Tartarus calmed us all down. "Would you like to see your room, Nekros?"

I nodded eagerly and smiled.

Tartarus teleported us back to the throne room. He led me down a hallway and stopped at the first door on the left. "In you go," he said. "Stoicheion's room is the one across the hall."

"Thanks," I said.

He smiled and teleported away.

I stepped into my room and gasped in shock. The walls were painted sea green with streaks of rust red, with a couple of pictures of Hercules, Odysseus, and Achilles burning in flames. I smiled at this, thinking how nice it would be to have my vengeance on the campers that betrayed me.

There was a nightstand next to my bed of silk, holding a lamp and a stack of books in Greek. They were mainly on battle strategy, with diagrams of all types of combat. Army formations, stances before combat, and types of moves for different situations were included in these books.

I decided to see if Thalia was in her room. I peeked in the room in the hall to see Thalia with darkness swirling around her arm, which was in a somewhat awkward position. It mended and I smiled. "Hi, Thals."

Thalia jumped up and turned around. "Oh, thank gods, it's you. You scared me, Kelp Head."

"Sorry, Pinecone Face."

At that we both started laughing, but then a sad look spread across my face as I remembered all the fun we had almost killing each other before we left Camp. Thalia noticed and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"No worries, Perce. We'll pull through, and get our revenge," she said with an almost villainous sort of grin on her face. Of course, to me it wasn't villainous, because I was on her side.

Then, I started drinking in the details of Thalia's room. It was silver with streaks of pitch black. Her nightstand had some Greek books, too, with more on ranged combat than mine had. I also saw some posters of Green Day instead of famous heroes burning.

I snapped back to reality and said, "Thanks, Thals. So, what happened to your shoulder?"

"Somehow, Nyx was able to dislocate it during our spar."

"How come? I thought the point in a spar was not to hurt anyone?" I asked.

"Maybe it was just for training purposes," Thalia responded.

"What that doesn't explain, though, is how it was able to dislocate in the first place."

"It was probably some trick of Nyx's," Thalia said. It seemed like she was okay with the whole thing. I guess I was just a little curious as to why her shoulder was hurt.

"Well, I guess I'll see you after I get some rest. Working with my powers has been really tiring." I told her.

"Alright, Perce. I'll see you tomorrow," she said.

With that, I walked into my room and collapsed onto my bed, which was softer than anything I'd ever felt before, and fell into oblivion.

**Hey, guys. I know it's been a heck of a long time since I last updated, but I've had major writer's block and I've been plain really busy. I was aiming for 2.5K words this chapter, but I only reached 1.5K because I wanted to get this up for my loyal readers out there. Hopefully I'll update sooner this time.**


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